In September of last year, Shannon Whitehead and Kristin Glenn of All of Us (r)evolution had the idea to create a clothing line that melds minimalism and anti-consumerism with organic and fair-trade materials. Out of that idea, All of Us (r)evolution and the companion clothing line (r)evolution apparel were born.
Considering the name of the website and the clothing line, Whitehead and Glenn’s project is radical: It consists of nine articles of clothing (currently only a women’s line) that can be contorted, reversed and rearranged in 100 different ways. The ultimate idea: A (r)evolution apparel customer only owns those nine articles of clothing.
Both Whitehead and Glenn realize that not every woman will be willing to ditch her entire wardrobe in favor of the (r)evolution nine, but there’s an articulate philosophy behind the project that they hope women will catch onto: reduction.
Reflecting on her own consumption habits, Whitehead says, “Minimalism is definitely a movement.”
And that movement might be just what {r}evolution apparel needs to get off the ground.
Although neither Whitehead or Glenn had any design experience, they developed a 60-page business plan and looked for material suppliers.
They traveled to Guatemala and Nicaragua to meet with women’s cooperatives and find a source from which to import materials. They returned, fatigued and unsuccessful. But, this past March, they came to Asheville to meet with local organic cotton company Spiritex. The locally-based business agreed to be the source that will make (r)evolution apparel a reality.
Daniel Sanders, who co-owns Spiritex with designer Marylou Marsh, is excited to see the project through. Still, when he met with Whitehead and Glenn, he made them aware of the potential difficulties they will face in the apparel business.
Sanders notes that Whitehead and Glenn’s lack of experience in the industry might set them at a disadvantage, but “I like the newness they’re bringing to an industry,” he says.
The next step for Whitehead and Glenn is to plunge into the process of making their designs into actual samples. Sanders and Spiritex will help tweak the designs making them possible to produce, because clothing designed to do more with less is not simply cut, sewn and worn in one easy and ready-made process.
“It takes a feat of engineering to determine how a dress can be worn to create several looks,” Glenn said. “You have to consider buttons, zippers, ties, straps, and all of these tiny details that will make a garment versatile. Most clothes we own have one, standard function.”
For the team, another obstacle is the fabric itself. They are handling fabrics which aren’t normally used for reversible function.
Whitehead said that Spiritex was able to look at the (r)evolution apparel designs and determine what could actually be produced and what needed to change. The meeting was an arduous, four-hour long process of scrutinizing every piece of clothing.
To make their vision a reality, Whitehead and Glenn are looking for investors. Startup funds for (r)evolution apparel came straight from the women’s personal accounts, stocked with money made from bar-tending since they both graduated from college in 2008.
Soon they’ll be launching a campaign on the funding platform IndieGoGo. To help, contact Whitehead and Glenn at shannon@allofusrevolution.com and kristin@allofusrevolution.com or visit HYPERLINK “http://allofusrevolution.com/“allofusrevolutionHYPERLINK “http://allofusrevolution.com/”.HYPERLINK “http://allofusrevolution.com/“com.
Funny, they don’t look like hippies.
Just kidding! This is a very smart idea and I wish them the best. If I had a spare thousand, I’d send it to them.
(on a side note, will someone let me rewrite the lead for this story?)
Yeah..it is funny to see designers in the area that have never had coverage before. Usually it is the same names you see over and over.